Democracy

AbstractThe term democracy is ancient Greek: it is a compound word,demokratia, linkingdemos(“people”) withkratos(“rule” or “power”). But even the translation ofdemokratiaas “rule of the people” is controversial. Scholars debate whether “people” refers to the collective body of adult male citizens, or if it had class significance from inception, in the sense of the “many” rather than the “few.” Nor is the meaning ofkratosself‐evident: whereas some scholars translatekratosto mean “power” in the sense of “agency” (the etymology ofkratosis linked to “grasp” or “grip”), one might believe that “rule” better captures the authoritative nature of popular decisions. We remain uncertain about which institutionsdemokratiaoriginally referred to, in part because the date of the term's coinage is unknown.Demokratia's connection with other Greek concepts, such asisonomia(equality before the law) andisegoria(equality of public speech), is no less contentious. Given the ambiguous and contested nature of the term from antiquity – and its pejorative connotations for many centuries – it is remarkable that 2500 years later, “democracy” is the most important concept of modern political life.